


Summer in Hawkins

by Dariary_Absentee



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: I just wanted to play this out, actually no tea to Karen, but i'm kind of over it, like it's MCNASTY, obviously Billy's mom is alive so..., sorry Steve's not in it...big RIP, stranger things s3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 06:54:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19388824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dariary_Absentee/pseuds/Dariary_Absentee
Summary: "Watch," Karen said, slow and whispered as if she was letting Lilly in on something secret."Showtime," Sandra said, with a wicked grin.Like clockwork, like synchronized swimmers they each had a pose. Karen's arm was above her head, stretching out her waist, her knees slightly bent and her other arm laying loosely in her lap.It didn't take her long to figure out what they were looking at. Who they were looking at.Granted in the tiny red shorts, the golden blonde curls, and the abs on display she was still...disgusted.It's Billy.Her baby.Her sunshine.





	Summer in Hawkins

It was hot. Not as hot as the night she’d spent in Death Valley, but still, _hot._ It was humid too, Hawkins is more humid than she would’ve liked, it’s wet heat that gets under the skin. The long strands of her hair stuck to the back of her neck and she wondered if Billy would burn this time. 

“Please tell me you’re wearing sunscreen,” she was already looking through her tote bag. It could’ve been bigger, but apparently, there was no point in bringing a whole first aid kit according to her son. 

“Yeah, ma, I’m wearing sunscreen, happy?” He said. 

“And wear your flip flops in the locker room this time, Jesus, athletes foot isn’t a--” 

“Do you wanna just go home?” He had his hands on his hips, glaring at her. She knew it wasn’t from a place of anger, it was out of fear. 

She sighed, “no, no, I’ll stop. I’m good.” 

He took a step closer to her. His shoulders less tense, edges softer. “You sure?” 

“Positive,” she said with a quick nod of her head “I was just looking out for you.” 

“You’re worrying yourself to death, ma, that’s what you’re doing.” 

“I can do both,” she teased him. That was all the fussing she had in her, it’s too hot to fuss about anything and Billy was, admittedly, a _little_ right. “I’m gonna sit out on those lawn chairs and read, maybe by the end of your shift I’ll be as tan as you are.” 

He scoffed. “Doubt it.” 

“Have a good day, sunshine. I’ll be around,” she said. 

They went their separate ways at the entrance of the Hawkins Community Pool, with a quick two-finger salute Billy went off to get ready for his shift as a lifeguard. Lilly scanned over the pool and lounge chairs, it was _jam-packed._

Of course it was, it was a _hot ass_ day. 

It had to be because even _she_ wanted to go to the pool. She’s pretty sure she shocked the hell out of Billy when she said she wanted to go too. Lilly spotted an older woman packing up her things from a lounge chair on the far side of the pool. It was the perfect spot, she’d even be able to see Billy from where she was sitting. 

Not that she was worried about him. 

The seat was next to some other women about her age, that was nice too. It’s a small town and she’s worked her way around it, she volunteers, made close friends with her neighbors--the Byers, but still, new faces were always welcomed. 

Billy was under the assumption she’s trying to make friends with every single person in town. 

Lilly made her way across the pool. The screaming children, the heat waves, and the general air of summer fun reminded her of trips up to the beach when Billy was small and she could still take him. The smell of chlorine sticking to the air was new, but she didn’t mind it. She was just grateful to be outside. 

She slid her sunglasses into the thick of her curls until they were trapped there and took a seat. Her tote bag was heavy with two books (she was very close to finishing one of them and would need another one), sunscreen and a light lunch and it landed with a heavy sound that probably caught their attention. 

She dropped into the chair with a sigh. 

She thought about how nice it’ll be nice to just sit and relax, listen to all the happy people, read, and chat about all the little things. 

“Afternoon,” the woman next to her said. There were two more of them that nodded likewise. 

Like Lilly had seen from across the pool, the women were around her age may be a little older--with the makeup, it was hard to tell. 

“Hi,” she said. “Hot day isn’t?” 

“Oh, _God,_ yes,” the woman closest to her spoke. 

The woman she was sitting next clearly had pull over the other two women. 

They reminded her of her old friend group in college. Sometimes those dynamics never really go anywhere, not even into adulthood, and not especially in a small town like Hawkins. It comes with the territory, actually.

“Did you just move here?” The woman who asked was much blonder than the woman she was sitting next to. She chewed on her gum and checked her reflection in the mirror before looking at her. “Your face looks new.” 

“Oh, well, the new lifeguards bring _everybody_ out of the woodwork,” the woman on the far end added. 

“Actually, I did just move here, in December,” Lilly said. She stuck her hand out. “I’m Lilly.”

“I’m Karen, welcome to Hawkins,” the woman closest to her said. Karen shook her hand. They were soft and her nails were manicured nicely, a bright shade of pink that matched her pink and teal swimsuit nicely.

“Sandra,” the peroxide blonde said. 

“Jenny,” the last woman said. 

They didn’t talk much after that and Lilly had pulled out her book. She quickly figured that Karen was somewhat diligently watching a small blonde girl on the shallow end of the pool between checking over her swimsuit, her lipstick, and her eyeshadow. 

All three of them were dressed up like they were expecting to be in Sears Roebuck catalog with nails, makeup, and jewelry that perfectly matched their swimsuits. 

“It’s a shame Sarah isn’t here,” Sandra said. 

“Oh, I _know,_ ” Karen added. “She’s going to be devastated.” 

Billy hadn’t said anything about anything happening to the pool, not that it was much like him to mention it to her. “Why?” Lilly asked. “Are they closing it for cleaning or something?” 

The three of them looked at each other like she had said she’d never heard of Starcourt Mall, like she was missing something fundamentally universal in Hawkins. 

"Is this your first time at the pool?" Jenny asked, her voice was doting and saccharine, twinging on the side of belittling.

It _is_ almost August and she hasn't been yet. She bit her lip and reminded herself that she'd been busy. That these women have different lives than her and that not going to the pull until August is _perfectly_ fine. 

Jenny be damned. 

...no offense. 

Karen scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Well, either way, you came at the right time. You're in for a treat." 

Sandra opened her compact again and checked her lipstick. Karen did the same with her hair and Jenny readjusted her swimsuit to the very edge of her chest. 

" _Watch_ ," Karen said, slow and whispered as if she was letting Lilly in on something secret. 

"Showtime," Sandra said, with a wicked grin.

Like clockwork, like synchronized swimmers they each had a pose. Karen's arm was above her head, stretching out her waist, her knees slightly bent and her other arm laying loosely in her lap. 

It didn't take her long to figure out what they were looking at. _Who_ they were looking at. 

Granted in the tiny red shorts, the golden blonde curls, and the abs on display she was still...disgusted. 

It's Billy. 

Her baby. 

Her sunshine. 

The apparent sex God of the Hawkins community pool. The centerfold for all women and probably some men aged 13 to probably 80 in this little town.

_"Oh my_ ** _God_**." 

Billy gets his hot blood from her, the expressiveness, all of that, from her. But she's trying. She’s _trying_ to just _let it go._

All she could do was bury her face in her book and pray for his long _strut_ to the pool end soon. 

_He's young. He's cute. It was going to happen eventually_ is a mantra in her head. 

And he's soaking it up too, like parched earth during a rainstorm. 

"Jesus, God, _why_ ," she groaned into her book. Not that Toni Morrison could save her from this. 

"Ma?" 

Lilly peeled the book from her face, at least he's wearing his goddamn flip-flops, she noted. At least she can **_FEEL_** the blood draining from Karen's, Sandra's and Jenny's face.

Actually, Karen, choked on the New Coke she was sipping on. 

Lilly looked up at him and his soft freckles and his long dark lashes and wished suddenly that genetics hadn’t taken such a strong hold of his features. "Hi, sweetheart," Lilly sighed. 

Billy’s nose wrinkled at the pet name. He is eighteen after all and he’s _too cool_ for that in public, especially now. He didn’t say anything though. "You okay?" 

Lilly grimaced. "Doing _great_ ," she said through her teeth. "Just reading my book, catching some sun, talking to people." 

Billy stared at her with his lips pursed as if to say ‘ _that’s such bullshit.’_ It is, though, but she’s too mortified to do anything about it. She was too busy resisting the urge to scream at the top of her lungs. 

Billy watched her with his tongue in between his teeth. He must’ve decided it wasn’t worth it because he shrugged. "Whatever." 

"Yeah, nothing interesting going on over here, sunshine. I’ll see you when your shifts over,” Lilly said. 

Billy nodded. "Ladies," he said addressing the three women beside her, notably not meeting Billy’s eyes. He tipped his head towards them and made his way up to the lifeguard’s chair. 

Lilly sighed. 

“I--” Karen started

“Yeah, no, don’t…” She wasn’t sure if she was shuddering or rattling or both, probably both. She probably looks crazy which, according to Billy is mostly her normal, but these women don’t know that. 

There’s a lot that she gets, actually. 

Her son’s attractive. He’s fit. He _likes_ the attention most of all and doesn’t mind getting it for all the effort he puts into his looks. He’s eye candy and they’re just looking, glancing, it’s all very much so a game. 

She gets that. 

But everybody knows the brain can understand something, but the heart can’t. There’s an unrelenting rage that sits in her stomach anyway, no matter how much she doesn’t want it to actually be there, the hot lump of coal pressing down keeps getting heavier and hotter. 

“You have kids, right?” _Who doesn’t in a town like this?_ Hawkins was built from happy families, that’s why she was so happy to move here. “You know he still watches those Saturday morning cartoons?” She chuckled. “In his PJs no less with a bowl of sugary cereal.” 

The picture must be familiar in some way, or maybe it isn’t, maybe Karen just has a big enough heart to understand. 

“I’m sorry,” she said. 

Sandra and Jenny’s heads stayed bowed.

“I know,” Lilly said. “Just remember that next time he goes parading around topless, Lord knows he loves it.” She opened her book and went back to reading and soaking up the sun.

* * *

“You’re mad at me,” Billy said, not as a question but as a statement. The air was still sticky and warm. They both smelled of chlorine and sunscreen and Hawkins’ heat.

A breeze filtered through the Camaro’s open windows. 

“No,” Lilly said. “I just forget everyone considers you an adult. You got your own car, a summer job, and then a semi-permanent one and then you’re gonna be going to school and it’s a lot, y’know? I’m so _proud_ of you, but it’s a lot.” 

Billy scoffed, his tongue stuck out between his teeth to hide his smile. “I ain’t that grown, ma,” he said, even if he was saying it just to please her. They both know how self-sufficient he can be. 

“I know.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Again, I wish Steve was in this lol (because my hoe ass obviously ships harringrove lol)  
> No tea no shade to Karen at this point  
> I hope this was a little amusing  
> I REALLY hope y'all liked Billy's mom lol :D  
> And lastly I really hope you enjoyed my shameless self-indulgence and I could bring you some sort of joy!!! Thanks for reading!!


End file.
